Loss Prevention Supplement - The Swedish Club

enginedamage

Loss Prevention Supplement

Main engine damage is an expensive category ofclaims that occurs far too frequently. Statistically avessel will suffer between one and two incidences ofmain engine damage during its lifetime. With anaverage claims cost of around USD 650,000, it isimportant to identify the main causes of this damageand understand how they can be prevented.

The case studies we present have been chosen toshowcase some of the most common causes ofengine damage. We have taken them from real lifesituations where an insurance claim has been made.The circumstances we describe are by no meansunusual. Sloppy maintenance, failing to followmanufacturers’ instructions, poor fuel and lube oilmanagement, lack of process – all are seen far toofrequently.

And as the case studies show, often a number ofseemingly minor omissions will combine to escalate aneasily handled routine problem into an onboard crisis.

Introduction By Peter StålbergSenior Technical Advisor

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Lubrication oil related failure isthe most common cause ofmain engine damage and amajor contributing factor toauxiliary engine breakdowns.

PreventionPrevention of damage is, of course, preferable to cure.Time and time again we see problems that wouldhave been prevented by having a well implementedand proper management system. This can be easilyachieved through proper training and education of thecrew, providing them with the essential knowledge andexperience required for ordinary daily work andmaintenance according to company procedures.

It is highly recommended that members have acomputer based planned maintenance system (PMS)on board linked with the shore organisation. The PMSshould be approved and audited by a classificationsociety to ensure a good standard.

More detailed advice on how to prevent enginedamage can be found in The Swedish Club’s lossprevention publications Main Engine Damage andAuxiliary Engine Damage.

Time and time againwe see problems thatwould have beenprevented by having awell implemented andproper managementsystem.

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Quick facts• Lubrication oil related failure is the most

common cause of main engine damageand a major contributing factor to auxiliaryengine breakdowns.

• Vessels propelled by medium/high speedengines have a claims frequency 2.5 timeshigher than slow speed engines.

• In comparison with other vessels insuredby the Club, bulkers and tankers are thebest performers with regard to mainengine claims cost. The majority of thesevessels have slow speed engines.

• Passenger vessels/ferries have the highestfrequency of main engine claims – oftenthese vessels have multiple medium speedengine installations.

• Approximately 50% of all auxiliary enginedamage occurs immediately aftermaintenance work.

• Incorrect maintenance and wrongful repairare the most common causes of damageto auxiliary engines. In most cases, this isdue to the incorrect assembly of vitalengine parts in connection with regularoverhaul, in particular, the assembly ofconnecting rods, bearings and pistons.

• The most expensive type of main enginedamage is on crank shaft and associatedbearings with an average cost of MUSD 1.2per claim, as spare parts are expensiveand the repairs labour intensive.

We were sailing to Europe with 30,000 tonnes of woodproducts. A few days after bunkering and leaving Singapore,we noticed that vibration was coming from the no. 1 purifier.This was shut down straight away as we were worried thatthere was an imbalance in the bowl, and we changed to the no.2 purifier.

To be honest, I was a bit worried that something like this mighthappen as eight weeks ago we had opened the purifier andnoticed sludge and deposits inside, as well as a damaged sealring. The Chief Engineer had told us it didn’t need replacing –he had a lot of experience, so we didn’t disagree with him andleft it as it was. I wasn’t sure the spare seal rings on boardwere in good condition so I suggested that we should try to getsome spare rings before leaving Singapore. Unfortunately, theschedule was hectic and somehow we forgot this.

Vibration and knocking

A few days later we then noticed vibration on the no. 2 purifier,which we knew must also have been due to excess sludge, andso we shut it down and opened for inspection. We noticed thatthe seal ring was damaged and we also found out that thespare we had on board was faulty and could not be used.

Then, a day later I saw that there were high exhausttemperatures on all the cylinders of the no. 2 diesel generator. Icalled the Chief Engineer, and he ordered the main engine loadto be reduced and the diesel generator shut down. We thenstarted the no. 1 diesel generator and put it on theswitchboard.

A few hours later I heard a knocking noise and saw a leakcoming from the no. 2 cylinder cover on the no. 1 dieselgenerator. We were worried that the valves were misalignedand so we shut down the diesel generator and stopped themain engine.

Commentary: Third EngineerVessel: 22,400 GT bulk carrierEngine type: MAN B&W 5S42MC Repair cost: USD 1,450,000

Case study 1Poor fuel management and sloppymaintenance routines leads to salvageoperation

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“A few hours later Iheard a knocking noiseand saw a leak comingfrom the no. 2 cylindercover on the no. 1 dieselgenerator.”

Drifting

The ship then started drifting and it took us threedays to get one of the two diesel generatorsworking again. We managed to get the no. 2 dieselgenerator started on marine gas oil by manuallypushing in the fuel rack, however we simply couldn’tget it to run on the main switchboard. Every time wetried, it shut down.

We finally managed to get the main engine runningon HFO by again forcing in the fuel rack manually,and we continued the voyage as advised by theshore office. Unfortunately, this luck didn’t last, andthe main engine stopped after a while. The dieselgenerator that we were using was showing highexhaust gas temperatures, and so we had to shut itdown, leaving us in total blackout. After some timesalvors arrived and towed us to the nearest port.

Technician support

When technicians arrived on board they asked us torestart the purifiers. As expected, they kept goinginto shut down and we told them that the purifiershad not been working for a while.

The technicians showed us that the seal rings weredamaged, and when they opened the drain bothwater and oil came out. They told us that when theyinspected components from the main engine and thediesel generators, they could see wear, pitting anddeposits on the valves and linings, proving that therewere water and impurities in the fuel.’’

Lessons learnedTo consume untreated heavy fuel is never a goodidea. In hindsight, with the fuel treatment system outof order the engine crew should have immediatelyswitched over to marine gas oil whilst the problemwith the purifiers were rectified.

Another important aspect of this series of events isthe lack of spare parts on board. It seems that theengine crew did not have full control of their inventoryof consumables which hindered them in carrying outrelatively simple repairs to the purifiers.

It is also recommended that the effectiveness of thefuel oil treatment system is periodically verified byanalysing fuel oil samples taken before and aftertreatment.

This damage is about poor fuel management incombination with sloppy maintenance routines.

The vessel bunkered in Singapore and startedburning the bunker as soon as the bunker test resultswere received. Although the fuel was within the ISOspecification it was challenging and needed carefulonboard treatment before delivery to the engines.

The primary cause of the breakdown was failure ofthe purifiers. With both purifiers having damagedseals, it is highly probable that the impurities andwater contained within the fuel oil were not removedbefore being burnt by the main engine and dieselgenerators. Finally, the purifiers were stopped and thevessel continued to consume the fuel without anypurification. As a result, the engines were not ablefully to burn the fuel being fed and sufferedoverheating and internal damage

Viewpoint: Peter Stålberg

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Commentary: Chief EngineerVessel: 4,000 TEU containerEngine type: NSD 7RT-flex96C, Aux engines 3x MAN B&W 8L27/38Repair cost: USD 160,000

Case study 2Breakdown of diesel generatorsdue to carelessness

We were en route from Mersin to Gioia Tauro in Italy,loaded with 3,098 TEU of general cargo in containers. 15of these units were reefer containers, and the ship hadan average power load ranging from 600 to 1080 kW.

Low lubricating oil pressure

A few days into the voyage, the no. 2 diesel generatorstopped working and the crankcase safety valvesautomatically released. When we inspected it, wesuspected this was due to low lubricating oil pressurecaused by a faulty lubricating oil pump, but we weren’tentirely sure. It turns out that there was major damageto the engine, but we didn’t investigate it further nor didwe consider the cause for the damage at this time. Theengine remained out of service, and so the no. 1 & no. 3diesel generator took over the power load of the vessel.

High temperature alarm

Following this we then began having problems with theno. 3 diesel generator – the over speed trip kept cuttingin, so we replaced the engine's governor with the spareone we had available. We then put the engine back intooperation only to find, after ten minutes and only 300kwof load, that the high temperature alarm was soundingfor the no. 4 main bearing. The engine crew stoppedthe engine almost immediately, but at that point thecrankcase safety valves released.

Shore support

We immediately notified the shore office, and theyarranged for urgent delivery of a power pack generatorat the next port to help the remaining diesel generatorto cope with the vessel's power load, plus all the spareparts needed to repair the seized generators. Inaddition, they said they would send us two experiencedService Engineers, along with a SuperintendentEngineer, to help us dismantle, inspect and recover bothdamaged diesel generators.

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The investigation revealed that the casualtyoriginated from careless handling of the mesh filterelements in the lube oil filter for the no. 2 generator.Filter cartridges in steel mesh, which are quitefragile, are cleaned by means of ultrasoundwashing in a dedicated basket. Instead of using thespecified basket the engine crew had tossed thefilter elements directly into the cleaner where theyhad sustained damage when rubbing against eachother during the cleaning process. As the filterdisintegrated, broken parts of the filter elementspread throughout the lubrication oil system of theno. 2 diesel generator engine and caused severedamage to bearings and journals.

Furthermore, an investigation of the lubricationarrangement revealed that the lubricating oil of no.2 and no. 3 engines was being purified bylubrication oil purifier no. 2 simultaneously throughthe common diesel generator lubrication oil draintank. This arrangement allowed the dieselgenerators' sump tanks to be inter-connected viathe lubrication oil drain tank, with the intervention ofthe lubrication oil purifier.

The initial contamination of the oil in the no. 2diesel generator caused metal particles tocontaminate the lubricating oil system.Subsequently, the contaminated lubricating oilentered the no. 3 diesel generator through thelubrication oil drain tank, causing damage to itsmajor moving components.

Ironically, the oil filter, which is there to protect theengine from impurities in the oil was damaged andcaused widespread damage in the auxiliaryengines.

Lessons learnedThe root cause for the casualty was the inability ofthe engine crew to follow the manufacturer’sinstructions on procedures for maintenance.

In addition, one can always argue that having aninterconnected lube oil system for different enginesis not good practice and should be avoided tosafeguard from contamination of both engines lubeoil systems should there be problems with the other.

Viewpoint: Peter Stålberg

The initial contaminationof the oil in the no. 2diesel generator causedmetal particles tocontaminate thelubricating oil system.

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Commentary: Chief EngineerVessel: 30,000 GT chemical/oil tanker Engine type: MAN B&W 6S50MC-CRepair cost: USD 250,000

Case study 3Forgotten rubber membrane sealscaused lube oil contamination

We were at anchor off Tenerife. During overhaul work alarge amount of sea water entered the engine room bilgefrom the inert gas system overboard drain line. We laterestimated this to be around 25 cubic metres.

Water in the engine room

Unfortunately, we had no knowledge of the problem untilone of the crew rushed into the engine control room andtold us that he had seen water in the engine room bilges.After the incident I was surprised to find out that the inertgas system abnormality alarm had been disabled by amember of my engine room team ten days earlier, whichis why we didn’t know what was going on.

Whilst all this was happening, we had a Class Surveyoron board carrying out an Annual Survey. We were toldafterwards that three bilge high level alarms had goneoff, but because of all the confusion, with all of thealarms being tested, the duty engineer simply didn’tnotice them which further delayed our action to mitigatethe consequence of the flooding

Defective seal in the crankcase oil outlet

There was so much water that it spilled over from the aftbilge well in the engine room compartment and filled thetank top area which was under the main enginecrankcase oil pan. Following this we discovered that thewater had got into the main engine crankcase lubricatingoil sump tank, as one of the seals in the crankcase oiloutlet must have been defective. This should never havehappened – the crankcase oil outlet should be tight andonly allow crankcase lubricating oil to drain from themain engine oil pan into the sump tank.

Oil change

We then pumped out the contaminated lubricating oilinto a storage tank so we could dispose of it later. Wealso cleaned the main engine crankcase and thelubricating oil sump tank to remove the contaminatedlubricating oil and any sea water and added a freshcharge of crankcase lubricating oil - approximately25,000 litres.

All I can say is that actually we believed we were verylucky. When all this was happening, the main engine wasnot running and so we avoided contaminating the wholeengine with sea water. Unfortunately, later we realisedthat the oil lubrication pump had been in operation, andsea water had contaminated the engine lube oil system.

Expert assistance

A few days into the voyage we checked an oil samplewith our onboard test-kit. The sample indicated somewater in the lube oil. On arrival at our destination aservice engineer from M.A.N Primeserve came onboard.We assisted him with checking of bearings and journals.We found some light corrosion which we could polishbut in the end we had to renew the no. 1 and no. 2 lowercross head bearing shells as they were damaged due tocorrosion.

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Lessons learnedIt is important to ensure that your engine roomalarm system is working 100%. Manufacturer’sinstructions must be strictly adhered to andservice instructions should be incorporated intothe vessels’s PMS.

The flooding of the engine room was unfortunatebut caused no direct damage. Typically, there willbe water on the tank top in the engine roomwhen a major sea water pipe starts leaking, avalve is mistakenly operated or when a vessel isunder repair at a shipyard and bilge cannot bedisposed of.

What really caused the problem here was thedefective rubber membrane seals between theengine crank case and the lubrication sump oiltank below the engine. I regret to say that this is aclassic incident, and we see one or two cases ofthis type every year. In most occurrences thewater ingress into the lube oil sump tank is notnoticed and the engine is operated withcontaminated lubrication oil. Usually cross headand main bearings are damaged by means ofwear and corrosion and need replacement. Thecost for these claims is often in the region ofUSD 350,000.

Despite repeated member alerts and serviceletters from the engine manufacturers, manyowners have failed to implement maintenanceroutine in the vessels Planned MaintenanceSystem (PMS). The rubber membrane sealsshould be checked and replaced every five yearsin connection with the vessel’s special survey.

Viewpoint: Peter Stålberg

What really caused theproblem here was thedefective rubbermembrane sealsbetween the enginecrank case and thelubrication sump oil tankbelow the engine.

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These case studies show that despite increasedregulation and training, a default in proper lubricationand monitoring strategies is the root of many majorincidents. Preventing deposit build-up in ship engineshas become the main challenge not only for marineengine manufacturers but also lubricant manufacturerssince the majority of the global shipping fleet switchedto low-sulphur fuels in January 2020.

Sulphur fuel oil blends can vary with viscosity, density,pour point and concentration of catalytic fines. Choosinga compatible lubricant that compensates for thesevarying specifications is now essential to avoid enginefouling and costly repairs.

Rising to this challenge requires an understanding of themultiple operating parameters of the engine, combinedwith smart engine monitoring, visual inspections anddrain oil analysis and interpretation.

Engine cleanliness is of key importance, preventingcostly engine damage, maximising time between

overhaul and contributing to improved engineperformance by sealing of combustion space. Inaddition a clean engine ensures proper ring movement,reducing the risk of ring breakage, and clean pistontoplands and crowns minimise the risks of borepolishing.

We recommend testing the lubricant every four weeks sothat the iron level is analysed to check for engine wearand lubricant performance. By testing the level ofremaining basicity of the lubricant after use, it is possibleto determine if the feed rate of the lubricant isappropriate and sufficient to keep the engine clean andoptimised.

Incorrect lubrication is the most frequent and expensivecause of main engine damage. This can all too often beavoided, and with it many of the costs associated in time,money and people, by choosing the right monitoringprogramme to better help protect a ship’s engine.

Engine cleanliness –the low sulphurchallengeInterview with Serge Dal Farra, Global Marketing Manager at Total Lubmarine

Engine cleanliness is ofkey importance,preventing costly enginedamage, maximisingtime between overhauland contributing toimproved engineperformance.

Loss prevention

Loss prevention is at the heart of everything we do

It saves livesIt protects the environment

It delivers onboard efficiencies

One of the key aims of The Swedish Club is to assist our members and partners in managingcurrent and future risks. Being a step ahead is paramount when it comes to preventing

accidents and building an enhanced marine safety culture.

We put a great deal of effort into loss prevention analyses and knowledge-sharing with ourmembers and the shipping community. Learning from incidents that have taken place, we

endeavour to prevent them reoccurring by working with our members to offer them guidanceand education initiatives.

Training• Emergency Response Training• Stress Test Drill• Monthly Safety Scenario• Maritime Resource Management (MRM)• Online Training• Training support material - The Swedish Club Casebook - The Swedish Club Monthly Safety Scenario Calendar

Initiatives• The Swedish Club Philippine Pre Engagement Medical Examination (PEME)• Swedish Club Operations Review (SCORE)• Benchmarking• Awareness campaigns

Intelligence• Trade Enabling Loss Prevention (TELP) - Correspondents Advice - Bunker Advice - Claims Alert - Piracy Alert• Member Circulars and Alerts• Loss prevention publications and Advice series• Loss prevention guidance

Our complete portfolio of loss prevention solutions can be found at:www.swedishclub.com/loss-prevention

Lars A. MalmDirector, Strategic Business

Development & Client Relations

Joakim EnströmLoss Prevention

Officer

Ellinor BorenClaims & Loss

Prevention Controller

Lorraine HagerLoss Prevention

& Marketing Advisor

Peter StålbergSenior Technical

Advisor